"IM BACK, BIGGER THAN LIFE, AND TWICE AS UGLY !!"
You know the last few months have been pretty hysterical. Living in Metro Detroit one doesn't have the luxury of being a total putz. You really cannot hide here and expect to make decent money. First of all, our entire media framework has collapsed into rubble and our newspapers are on life support or out of business. There is nowhere to advertise.....
If you want to get the word out about your business you have two choices.... pay through the nose for pay per click, or take up religion. The religion option in Metro Detroit is a little over done, but many people opt for that solution.
I like to take on the search engines head on with SEO and face any or all rejection that comes with it. That way you can find find out just how good you are. This is something that a lot of companies are not willing to do. So many of them shrivel up and hide out and pray for another answer.
Search engine optimization will do more than keep your doctors office lights on - it will also keep you in business.
THE ONLINE MARKETING GURUS FALL APART IN 2010Going through the Rip Off Report recently was quite a shock, all of our old heroes of -- not so long ago -- have ended up in this garbage heap called, Rip Off Report. There are stories in there about the illusive Stephen Pierce, Jeff Paul, Matt, (the ex savior) Bacak, and of course Don Lapree. I actually fell asleep during one of Matt Bacaks presentations a few years ago. Some of these guys have really challenged the state and have found themselves in multi million dollar lawsuits and I find this interesting for several reasons.
Now before you jump all over these guys get something straight. These guys made a lot of money. Jeff Paul claimed that after he tried a few of Dan Kennedys techniques he actually pulled 30 million dollars in sales. I don't really know how accurate this can be but that is what he claimed on one of his tapes. A lot of what you find in his kit is some fairly decent information. It is watered down Dan Kennedy for the most part and that kit will only make sense to you if you have studied marketing for a long period of time. I had to order the thing twice in a two year period to see if any changes had been made to it and if it still made any sense to me.
The truth about these guys is that they did make a lot of money and because of it have slacked in customer service. This ranges from basic things like not answering the phone when things go sour to flat out hiding from their customers. Gary Halbert actually went to prison for stealing from his customers. The conduct of these individuals is pretty ridiculous. You will read reports of these guys taking as much as $50 grand off of their customers and not supplying any value.... heinous.
Im disappointed with these guys because I studied through them and learned a great deal about marketing through them. Well, most of them, that is... I have studied and learned a great deal from the ones who didn't rip me off. Some of them have ripped me off and I talk about that in this blog....
2011 - And Why Marketing MattersA few years ago marketing did not matter. We had graphic design and MTV. Those two things actually stood for something and we weren't bombarded with so much web stuff. People lost their jobs and then decided that marketing was the way to go. The truth is there are a lot of shitty marketers out there who should flat out quit the business and stop embarrasing all the rest of us. Just because you lost your job at GM doesn't mean you should be a marketer. All it means is that you should go out and get another job, somewhere else.
There is a need for good marketers however, especially now -- when traditional media is falling apart including newspapers and Yellow Pages. Online marketing makes the most sense to me as our country caves in and we lose our economic sensibilities to things like outsourcing.
To add more trauma to our economy comes MLM's and franchising. These rigid spinsters add all sorts of unnecessary rules and regulations to inflate their stuffed shirts and fractured thinking. They go out of their way to install fear, order, and limited profitability to the denizens they enslave. Most of these people, and I include mortgage, real estate and insurance in this group, need marketing the most as their industries are impacted by things out of their control -- such as big branding, and third party competition.
With so many rules and regulations as a Nation we have lost our basic liberties and freedoms. As for companies and industries out there in America who still have a choice on where to spend their marketing dollar I say that dollar is best invested in smart online makreting.
Just recently we are helping out these industries
Detroit Party Bus
Party Bus Detroit
GIA Certified Diamonds Michigan
Tag Heuer Watches Michigan
Putting these guys on Google, Yahoo and Bing not only keeps our economy alive in Michigan but also ensures longevity. This comes at a time in our day and age where many businesses in Troy, Michigan have vacated their storefronts.
Middle management is not the answer. Get up and do something to save your
dental practices, medical offices, and places of business.
Ted Cantu works out of Detroit, Motor City... not METRO DETROIT... but DETROIT.... and stands up for the State of Michigan
